Get Ready Week 4

Well, life is speeding by at a rapid rate and we are learning so many good things that will be of great use to us on the field! There have been some presenters here that travel all over the world training others. Some of our sessions have been on Chronological Bible Storying, Pioneer Evangelism, Universal Disciple, and Spiritual Warfare. This week we will be doing T4T, this is Training 4 Trainers, teaching us how to train new believers to share what they have learned with others and in turn train them. Many hours of sitting in classes but we also spend time practicing our skills we learn.

Last week we had time slots for working on our prayer cards, creating wills, signing legal papers and learning about filing taxes overseas! We also have classes on how to prepare for culture shock, how to handle conflict and learning skills we may need on the field like driving a stick shift on the opposite side of the road! Look out Nairobi!

We are not allowed to have TVs in our quads, so our entertainment has been quite different. Jeff had become intrigued with jigsaw puzzles and we play a little Bible Trivia. For exercise, Jan walks with other ladies and Jeff is still playing ultimate Frisbee with the guys. The past three days were 103 degrees with a heat index of 112, so most folks stayed indoors as much as possible. We have a few movies that we are required to watch that relate to our region and culture, so we watch them on our computer.

Three times during the training we are having “Special Lunches”. These are lunches that are possible foods we may be required to eat in different regions of the world. We are required to try everything. This week was a Mediterranean meal with meatballs, and a cucumber relish that had to be eaten with our hands using a flatbread that we torn into strips. It was really quite tasty.

Meet B and W! They are two more of our quadmates who are from Jackson Mississippi. They will be going to serve in East Africa. B is an engineer and will be participating in a water project in their region. They are great folks to be around and we have really enjoyed spending time together and learning how God has worked in their lives. We are excited to see how God is going to continue to use them on the mission field.

Get Ready Week 3

A word of explanation; blurred faces are for security reasons.

We are having a wonderful time learning more about the African people and their culture. Our regional associate here in Richmond and his wife invited us to their home for an African meal. We were able to help prepare the meal and then enjoyed eating it together African style (with our hands). The ladies bow as they serve the men who eat first in a separate area. The ladies eat seated on the ground. We had ugale, made with ground cornmeal and water, cooked to a thick paste consistency. (This is called sadza in Zimbabwe). We also had turnip greens cooked with tomatoes and onions, coconut beans, chapattis (a flat bread made with flour, oil and water) and fruit salad made with mango, papaya, bananas and pineapple. The evening was finished off with a hot cup of freshly made African chai.

This Sunday’s cultural worship was led by our African teams. We spent the week learning 5 songs sung in 5 different languages. Africans are very active worshipers and so we had hand motions to go with each song. We held the service outside on a hillside with only a drum for music and no PA system. We dressed in our African attire and everyone sat on the ground, men on one side and women and children on the other. The sermon was preached in Swahili. While he was preaching, a breeze began to blow, the lake began to ripple and the tall grass in the fields began to sway. It was as if God was making His presence known among us. The scripture text was Joshua chapter one. As he continued to preach on, “Do not be afraid”, the wind began to roar as it grew stronger and the trees began to bend, the sky darkened but no rain fell. There was an awesome sense of peace in the midst of the storm!

After we had returned to our quad and the sun began to set, the sky lit up with a bright beautiful golden glow on the tops of the trees. This was followed by full double rainbow filling the sky. In the center of the rainbow were some powerful strikes of lightening. It was as if God was reminding us of His promises and that even in the midst of or storms, we were not to be afraid, He will be with us wherever we go.

Meet our quad mate, Sarah Maddox. She is a UGA graduate from McDonough, GA. She is part of the Journeyman program and will be going to Johannesburg, South Africa to serve at the Baptist International Missions Services office there. We call Sarah our social butterfly. She loves people and being involved in everything that is going on!